The military said it has no problem responding to the clamor educators, students, parents and local officials to reopen classes at the Mindanao State University but added that security should be a paramount concern to all to prevent a possible infiltration of Islamic extremist personalities inside the campus.
“Education is the best antidote to terrorism. If we suspend classes and disallow children from going to school, then terrorism has already won,” Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom) chief Lieutenant General Carlito Galvez Jr. said in a meeting called by university officials on Monday.
At the same time, Galvez dared the beleaguered terrorists—Maute, Abu Sayyaf and their foreign comrades who are still holed up inside a couple of barangays in Marawi City to surrender.
The military said that more than 500 terrorists, 122 government troops, and 45 civilians were killed with more than a thousand wounded since the terrorists occupied Marawi in the latter part of May.
During the two-hour discussion, military and university officials and faculty members discussed recommendations on the resumption of classes and the reopening of establishments near the university.
Galvez said security arrangement and schedule of class resumption were thoroughly discussed with Joint Task Force Ranao commander Brigadier General Ramiro Rey, MSU President Dr. Habib Macaayong, and other university officials. Also present was Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Assemblyman Zia Alonto Adiong.
Adiong has proposed a “holistic approach” since Mindanao is under martial law and especially so that there are still many civilians living within the school compound.
“There is a need to consult and involve the other members of the MSU community so that they too will have ownership over the problem and take part in the solution,” Adiong said, referring to the security plan that would be crafted within and outside the campus.
“It was also initially agreed that the school can go on accepting enrollees until such time classes opens in two weeks or on a later date,” Galvez said.
He said the university is the symbol and life of Marawi City and a bastion of knowledge as he assured school officials that classes will be opened at the soonest time possible.
Students studying at the university mostly came from marginalized families from Mindanao and Visayas and from as far as Palawan.
“It [MSU] has produced a number of distinct professionals and scholars and even topnotchers, both Muslims and Christians in its 56 years of operation,” Galvez said.
Reports said that Omar Maute, one of the leaders of the terrorist group, studied in MSU.
“Continuing talks and assessments will be held to weigh things and ascertain the date of opening. We might have to delay it, but we will definitely have to open the MSU for our students and for our people,” Galvez said.
“The opening of the university is a challenge, but we have to test the waters and come up with means to bring back the life of Marawi through the opening of this revered institution,” he added.
Meanwhile, Australia, Russia, Japan, and Singapore on Tuesday vowed to continue providing assistance to Marawi City and its displaced residents.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said that her government will provide an additional $20-million or P800-million worth of assistance to support the recovery phase for the next four years in Marawi City.
“Today (Tuesday), I announce that the Australian Government will provide assistance to ease civilian suffering caused by the siege in the Philippine city of Marawi and contribute to peace-building in the area,” Bishop, who attended the Asean Regional Forum in Manila, said.
She said that the fresh donation is in addition to the $920,000 or P46,446,200 worth of emergency food and other supplies which the Australian government donated last June 20, 2017.
The additional $20-million will finance the displaced people's urgent needs, including child protection and counseling services.
The funds will also finance small-scale infrastructure projects for communities around Marawi, including provisions for clean drinking water and repair of local roads.
The Australian Government, she added, will assist in community peace-building efforts and strengthen local capacity to resist and counter extremism
During her meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte, her second meeting with the president, the two discussed the conflict in Marawi and its impact to civilians in the area.
“Australia remains committed to supporting the peace process and development in Muslim Mindanao, which are critical for a strong, stable Philippines, and our assistance will complement the existing programs and priorities of the Philippine Government,” Bishop said.
In an afternoon press briefing, Japan Foreign Ministry deputy press secretary Toshihide Ando said that it will provide high-speed vessels and security-related equipment to help Filipino forces to fight the Maute rebels.
“Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono would like to proceed fully with the provision of high speed patrol vessels and security-related equipment which was already agreed to support the efforts of the philippines to address the issue in Mindanao,” Ando said.
Japan also donated $2-million worth of humanitarian assistance for the displaced people in Marawi.
It also offered an additional P100-million aid to help the country’s effort to counter the terrorist threat and help displaced families in the ongoing conflict in Marawi.
During a closed-door bilateral meeting, Kono conveyed to Cayetano Tokyo's intention to provide equipment and other assistance to support Manila's counterterrorism efforts.
“We are happy to step up our assistance to the Philippines,” Kono said.
Singapore also donated 30 sets of 5-men tents, 3,120 packets of field rations, 3 sets of medical supplies, 200 blankets, 1080 bottles of water, and 64 pieces of dynamo lights.
Through the Singapore Red Cross, the country also sent three units of water filtration device.
“This water filtration system is able to actually purify up to 1 ton or 1000 liters of clean water in one hour. This will ensure that areas such as refugee camps and relief areas that don’t have clean water are able to derive clean drinking water immediately and quickly,” Lim Chong Tee, Singapore Red Cross Youth Volunteer, said.
From Laguindingan Airport, the supplies will be transported to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) office in Iligan City which will assess which areas need it the most.
Meanwhile, the chief of the Foreign Police of the European Union said that threats have gone “global” and Southeast Asia and Europe are facing common threats of terrorism and cybercrime, urging relevant countries for security cooperation to ensure critical infrastructure that is “resistant” to cyber-attacks, extremisms and terrorism.
During the Post-Ministerial Conference between the EU and the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini noted the potential benefits for Europe and Asia of increased cooperation, not only in this issue, but also in trade, tourism, climate aciton, migration, counter-radicalisation, security and defense.
“Our world is in fact smaller and more connected than ever before but divisions and contradictions happen to take place within our societies more and more and this is why it’s so important not to leave anyone behind in our work,” Mogherini said in her opening statement at the ASEAN-EU Meeting at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).
“This means that threats have gone global, sometimes disparities and inequalities have gone global, but also that opportunities have gone global,” she said, adding that security and development of Asean countries are important to security and development all over the world.
Mogherini and the 10 ASEAN ministers adopted two joint statements celebrating 40 years of EU-ASEAN relations and committing to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement. They also adopted an EU-ASEAN Plan of Action for the years 2018-2022.
The annual ministerial meeting between the EU and ASEAN was the first of a series ASEAN related and bilateral meetings she attended in Manila on Sunday. She also participated and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).
The meetings brought together countries from across Asia and beyond, including the EU, the United States and Canada, and focusing on regional and international security challenges.
The HR/VP said the EU believes that regional organizations like ASEAN can be a crucial pillar in building a multilateral global governance in the framework of the United Nations system.
Ahead of her visit to Manila, Mogherini called for closer cooperation between security agencies of the EU an ASEAN.
“If we want to reach the full potential of our partnership, we also need to continue deepening our cooperation on security. Europe and Southeast Asia face some common threats: cyber-crime and terrorism for example,” Mogherini said.
She suggested that “closer cooperation between security agencies would be important to ensure critical infrastructure was resistant to cyber-attacks and to counter extremism and terrorism.”
Fighting broke out in Marawi when the Maute islamist group took parts of the city on May 23, and has since continued unabated.